BCCL forays into beauty segment with Femina Flaunt

Bennett, Coleman & Co Ltd (BCCL) is planning to foray into the beauty segment with its brand Femina. The multimedia company has formed a new division, Times Lifestyle Enterprise, for overseeing the launch of Femina Flaunt in the beauty salon segment.

Sandeep Dahiya, Director, Brand Extensions, BCCL, has been hired as the CEO of the new entity. He would be responsible for exploring and driving growth for the venture, while continuing to lead Brand Extensions at BCCL. The firm has also appointed in Dinesh Bhat (formerly with Unilever India) as the COO for the venture.

BCCL is eyeing to launch its first unisex, company-owned, company-operated (COCO) studio salon in Mumbai within the first half of 2019.

Vineet Jain, Managing Director, The Times Group, said, “Our entry into the beauty segment is in line with the group’s philosophy of continuing to invest in newer and future growth opportunities. We have many legacy brands within the group, like Femina, Filmfare and Miss India, among others, and this venture would explore relevant, sustainable and scalable business models around these brands in the retail and lifestyle space.”

Dahiya stated, “Beauty is an exciting, and a rapidly growing category in India, and we’re confident of making a significant impact in this category through differentiated service offering, personalised consumer engagement, and best-in-class brand alliances.” 

“The venture will follow a hybrid model of growth in this segment, starting with COCO salons, and simultaneously expanding through a robust franchise program, to create a footprint of over 100 salons in the first five years,” he further added.